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This Ostrich Snuggles Orphaned Elephants To Make Them Feel Better After Losing Their Moms

They say friends come in all shapes and sizes… Jotto the baby elephant was just 1-month-old when he fell in the well and separated from his herd. David Shelldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT) took him to an elephant orphanage in Kenya where he could heal until he was ready to go back to the wild. Little did the rescuers know that even though there were plenty of elephants at the shelter, Jotto will become BFF with… an ostrich named Pea!

Pea was rescued back in 2014, when the staff went to save a baby elephant and found the birdie and her ostrich brother Pod in need of help, too. They were taken to the elephant shelter. Pod has returned to the wild and joined wild ostrichs, but Pea is staying with the elephants, feeling completely at home.

“It is safe to say orphaned ostrich Pea most definitely believes she is part of the elephant herd and little Jotto is more than happy to enjoy a cuddle with his feathered friend,” DSWT wrote this week. “Beautifully tender moments at the Nairobi Nursery, where these two orphans and many, many others, are being given the opportunity to heal and, when they are ready, to return to the wild.”